[ILL-L] Barcodes printed using Firefox

[Joe Ellison]

==============Original message text===============
On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:32:42 am CST Richard Samford wrote:


    I've run into an interesting problem lately, and haven't heard 
anyone else ask about it, so I thought I would.

    I'm having trouble with our barcode scanners reading OCLC 
Interlibrary Loan "Request Identifier" barcodes.  It does fine when the 
request form is printed using Internet Explorer or CLIO, but it doesn't 
scan at all when the same request is printed using Firefox, those 
barcodes are noticeably different.  In fact the print version, on the FF 
screen, _shows_ a barcode that _is_ scanable.  I did a screen grab and 
pasted it into Photoshop and printed it, it scans great, but when you 
print the request form out using Firefox, it prints a different (and 
unscanable) barcode. 

    Of course, I cannot find any references on the manufacturer's web 
site (Metrologic), Mozilla, or the OCLC site, even backed up and punted 
on Google.  Anyone out there have a working knowledge on why FF might 
handle barcodes differently, and how to squish it? 

Thanks!  Richard

===========End of original message text===========
I posted a question about this very problem quite a while ago. The solution, if you prefer to 
use Firefox, is to set the print size to 80%. At that size, not only are the bar codes 
scannable, but I've yet to have a request that required more than one page when printed in 
Full format. I don't have to hand the email I received telling me this trick, but to whoever 
sent it to me-Thank you.

Joe Ellison
Document Delivery Assistant
Northwestern University Transportation Library
1970 Campus Dr
Evanston IL 60208-2300
phone: 847-491-8600
fax: 847-491-8601
j-ellison at northwestern.edu